Fennessy brothers to Shine for Murdoch

Timing is everything. Following the announcement of the resignation of Mark & Carl Fennessy from FremantleMedia Australia this morning, now the Shine Group has confirmed the two brothers will spearhead the creation of Shine Australia.

The UK based Shine was founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert, who owns 80% of the production company. It has produced titles including Merlin, Hex, MasterChef Goes Large and the return of Gladiators.

For the Aussie arm, the Fennessy brothers will act as joint CEOs with the company launching in 2010.

Elisabeth Murdoch said: “Mark and Carl are simply the finest independent producers of their generation in Australia. I am convinced of this, not only because of the numerous, huge, popular hits they have brought to the screens but through the recent experience of working with them on our formats, The Biggest Loser and MasterChef. I have long wanted to establish a creative, energetic production company in Australia as part of Shine, and I am thrilled this will now become a reality.”

Shine Australia, which will operate in both Australia and New Zealand territories, joins group production companies Dragonfly, Kudos, Princess Productions, Reveille, Shine TV and Shine Germany; international sales company Shine Reveille International and film production arm Shine Pictures.

Last year Ben Silverman was forced to sell Reveille to Shine due to a conflict of interest at NBC.